I'm sure this topic has been hit many times in the past... I have an older white jib. While I need to do some repair here, it is seriously dirty. What is the best/simplest way to get it clean? Thought I'd get some of the dirt out before the repairs. Thought about just putting it into the front loaded washing maching on the hand washable setting. Thoughts?

Thought about just putting it into the front loaded washing maching on the hand washable setting. Thoughts?

I think that's a great way to destroy a sail. Sails are not meant to be wadded up and shoved into a small space.

The best and easiest way to clean a sail is to lay it flat - on grass or other clean surface - wet it with a hose and scrub gently with a long-handled scrub brush and some dish washing detergent (Dawn). Rinse thoroughly and hang to dry (throw a line over a high tree branch and hoist it up).

Clean it gently with a wet cloth / sponge. Use soap powder if required. Do not use a hard brush etc to make it look clean. Even if it looks dirty, the sail cloth will still have enough life to give you a good performance on water.